How Much Weight Should a Woman Gain in Pregnancy?

[CTyankee]

New guidelines are here:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/06/08/life/doc4...

"‰A normal-weight woman, as measured by BMI or body mass index, should gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy. A normal BMI, a measure of weight for height, is between 18.5 and 24.9.

"‰An overweight woman — BMI 25 to 29.9 — should gain 15 to 25 pounds during pregnancy.

"‰For the first time, the guidelines set a standard for obese women — BMI of 30 or higher: 11 to 20 pounds.

"‰An underweight woman — BMI less than 18.5 — should gain 28 to 40 pounds."

Back in the 60s, at 5'6" and weighing 125 lbs. I was "normal" weight (I guess, we didn't do BMI in those days). Nonetheless, my doctor did not want me to gain more than 20lbs total in my pregnancies. Reason: I wouldn't be able to lose more than that after giving birth (with the implication that I would be fat and unattractive).

My 3 children, born between 1961 and 1965, weighed 8.4, 7.12, and 6.14, respectively. It was a struggle but I gained 22 lbs. with my first and second and only 20 with my 3rd. I was so proud.

I remember getting so hungry I cried, but my doctor was very stern. I never ate before a weigh-in at his office and was nervous about weight during all 3 pregnancies.

Interesting how times have changed...

[Ilsa]

1. My mother-in-law said the same thing back in 1959 - 1963. The weight

restrictions were horrible and ot well-considered, given that the uterus, blood supply, breast tissue, and placenta all have to increase, not just the baby. And the doctors were controlling and rude. Birth was horrible then, too. I recommend watching The Business of Being Born on Showtime for any young woman hoping to have a child anytime soon.

I gained 32 and 35 (IIRC) for my two back in the 1990s. I wasn't always hungry.

[CTyankee]

4. I also smoked and for some reason that was of no concern to my doctor.

In fact, I read in my pregnancy book (by none other than Dr. Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood fame!), that for women who were constipated in pregnancy, smoking a cigarette helped to "relax" her!

I did not drink alcohol but I very much regret my smoking. I guess that had something to do with my low weight gain. I lost all of the weight I had gained, in any case, once I started breast feeding. Also, I might add I was in my early/mid twenties and very healthy with my pregnancies...

[Happyhippychick]

2. I was born in the 60's. My mother gained 12 pounds with the pregnancy.

How nice that things have changed and women aren't being berated by their MALE doctors for gaining healthy amounts of weight during pregnancy!

[shaniqua6392]

3. I gained about 30 pounds with each of my two daughters.

They were 7 lbs 1 oz and 6 lbs 13 oz at birth. I breast fed both of them for about a year. This helped me lose all the weight that I gained within two months after they were born. Breast feeding flattens out the stomach quite nicely too!

[JerseygirlCT]

5. I was about your height and weight

with my first. I gained nearly 50 lbs. My usually modest appetite just took off. But within months of delivery, I weighed a few pounds less than I'd started. He was 8.2 at birth. I heard the suggestions, but took them as just that, and while I did gain a lot (the pictures of me then are funny!), it was what that baby needed.

I started slightly heavier with my second and gained a little less. Ten years along the road, losing the baby weight wasn't as easy. But I think that had much more to do with my age and metabolism than with pregnancy weight gain. (He was slightly heavier, as well).

I think it's far more important for a pregnant woman to focus on what she's eating than on how much. Lots of healthy food, when your appetite is calling for it, is probably just what is needed. Remember some of those cravings? Looking back, lots made sense.

Health, not keeping ones figure, ought to be the primary concern, IMO.

[CTyankee]

8. I don't recall any specific cravings, just a feeling of hunger in the pit of my stomach.

What's so odd is that my doctor simply refused to hear that I was hungry. It was as if I had made it up. He just ignored me.

I remember the hunger, the need for sleep and constantly needing to pee.

Luckily, I had uneventful, healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. I don't remember eating any junk food, however, because there wasn't any in those days. I lived in New York City and never saw a fast food restaurant back then.

Your observation about pregnant women eating healthy foods is a good one. Unfortunately, the fast food industry has taken its toll on lots of people, pregnant women among them. I think this article was aimed in large part on the American diet, which today sucks by comparison to the 60s...

[JerseygirlCT]

10. Oh, I can't promise that I never touched junk food!

But I tried to focus on the healthy stuff. And ice cream. Always that. Absolutely necessary, lol.

There's one restaurant near here where entrees never get eaten at the place. EVERYONE takes a bag home. A single entree is usually about what I'd serve my family of four, for instance. (If they gave me four manicotti, I'd usually eat two, for instance. A huge salad usually preceeded the main meal.)

During that first pg, I remember looking down in amazement and seeing my plate empty! How the heck did I do that? It was pretty funny.

[Iggo]

6. A thousand pounds sounds about right.

[WI_DEM]

7. whatever she wants to gain.

[surrealAmerican]

9. That was pretty standard advice at the time.

I was born in the early 60's, and my mother gained less than ten pounds during the pregnancy. She was thin to begin with, and was anemic and miserable the whole time. I gained exactly 29 lbs. with each of my pregnancies (in the early 90's), and was healthy and strong. The children weighed 7 and a half and a little over over 8 lbs. After the babies were born the weight just disappeared. I was breastfeeding, and had to work to keep my weight up to "normal".

[JerseygirlCT]

11. I was born then, as were my siblings

(well, most), and along with the silly weight restrictions (I don't think my thin mom paid them much mind, actually), they were actively discouraging women from breastfeeding.

Fortunately for all of us, my mother has a terrific, quiet, stubborn streak. She did what she felt best for all of us, regardless of what she was told.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. I was told to limit my pregnancy weight gain to 18-20 lbs. during the 60's, also.

My height and weight (5' 5 1/2", 120 lbs.) were similar to yours. My babies weighed 8.8, 8.3, and 7.12 and I gained a minimum 30 lbs. with each pregnancy and was scolded every time I went to the doctor. I really tried to stay within their guidelines, but I just couldn't. I ate healthy foods, was careful with my portions and didn't snack in between, and exercised regularly, but I just kept gaining weight and getting fussed at.

BTW, even with those weight gains, each time I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time the baby was 8 weeks old without any effort at all.

[CTyankee]

24. I probably would have gained 30 lbs. if I hadn't smoked.

To this day I kick myself for smoking during my pregnancies. I feel like I did a bad thing to my kids...

[SteelPenguin]

13. Diet is more important than numbers

The baby needs lots of nutrition and will take it anyway it can get it. For instance if you don't intake enough calcium, the baby will leech that calcium right out of your bones.

Osteoporosis is worse in women who have had children, particularly ones who didn't gain much weight during pregnancy. They were undernourished, and the babies took it anyway they could, harming the women's health forever.

On the flip side, gaining too MUCH weight is dangerous as well. It can lead to many different complications depending on the mother.

I would say that the guidelines above aren't all that bad, but at the same time you could probably double those numbers and still be healthy. It just depends on the woman. Any doctor or midwife that lives and dies by those numbers isn't a very good one. As a guide, sure. As a 'berate the woman for gaining too much weight'....no.

The most important thing is to make sure you have a good and healthy diet. Vitamin supplements, as well as a planned diet with your care provider, or birth instructor (the Bradley method offers alot of diet instruction in particular) to make sure you're eating well, and of the right foods for the baby.

After that TRY and not pig out on a pint of ben and jerry's every day just because you're pregnant. Don't use pregnancy as an excuse to eat anything and everything because then you could start veering into unhealthy weight gain...at the same time though...you're pregnant for crying out now. A pint of ice cream here and there is just what you need....

...after all it has calcium in it right? ;)

[pipi_k]

14. In 1970...

I was 17 and expecting my son.

My height...about 5' 8 1/2"

Normal weight...barely 120


I remember one of the hospital clinic nurses getting REALLLLLY nasty and snotty with me because it looked like I was well on my way to gaining 20-whole-fucking-pounds by the end of it all.

I graduated High School in June of that year, and my son was born a month early in September. When I was in school, nobody knew...that's how small my stomach was. My son was just barely 5 1/2 lbs at birth.


If I had that nurse in front of me today, I'd like to slap her silly

[juno jones]

15. early nineties:

I started both out at 5'4" 148lbs, which is my ideal weight despite what insurance companies think (At that weight, I'm a rather svelte size 10-12, funny enough).

I gained 30lbs for my oldest, pretty much right on target, and I indulged a serious craving for chicken livers which superceeded ice cream cravings (I have THOSE all the time ;) )for the duration of the pregnancy.

My second preg was twins. I started from the same weight, gained about 40 lbs, was hungry all the time, ate mostly good food-except for arby's beef-n-cheddars, and lost so much of my own body weight my arms and legs looked like toothpicks.

Yeah, it's one thing to tell women not to overeat and gain an unhealthy amount of weight, but those weight restrictions and crappy insurance weight charts of the 60's sound like absolute hell, on top of being dangerously inaccurate for many women.

[CTyankee]

16. For some reason, nutrition was no big deal in those days.

There were very few guidelines on what to eat. I don't remember getting a diet handed to me. And, as I said, the doc said nothing about my smoking, didn't even ASK! Nor did he ask me about alcohol (I didn't drink at all, tho).

People in general in those days were not as fat as they are now. Obesity was a rarity (I can't remember knowing anyone obese in those days; plump,yes, but not obese). Now it's an epidemic. I think this article is in response to this epidemic...

[Kaylee]

17. Heck, I gained over 40lbs with each of my pregnancies....

If I had a craving, I didn't ignore it. That meant having my husband bring me cheeseburgers in the middle of the night when he got off his work shift, eating two sausage egg mcmuffins for breakfast on my way to work, danishes in the afternoon, and steak for dinner, etc..etc..etc. I always enjoyed the fact the pregnancy was the only time I could eat whatever I wanted and not watch my waistline. At least until the baby got so big, you couldn't fit food in your stomach anyway. ;-)

Also, when I was hungry, I was HUNGRY. There is special type of hunger you get when you are pregnant. You feel you will die, if you don't eat NOW!

At the end of it all, my kids were both health sized babies, 7'11 and 7'8, and I was back down to pre-pregnancy size within a few months. My doctor didn't really comment about the weight I gained.

[Javaman]

18. I read an interesting study a while back regarding weight gain and pregnantcy...

Those women who gained 35 or more pounds during pregnancy had a rougher time losing the weight afterwards than those who gaind 34 pounds or less during pregnancy.

just an interesting factoid. Not passing judgement.

Now if you ask for a link. I couldn't find it if I tried.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

19. OMG -- I couldn't imagine gaining 28-40lbs in 9 months, baby or no baby

40lbs and I'd probably fall over.

[quiller4]

20. My sister and I were both born in the early 50s when Mom's

doc insisted that she gain no more than 20 lbs. My mother was 5'2" and her pre-pregnancy weight was 105. She gained 18 with me and 20 with my sister. Both of us weighed in just under 7lb at birth. 30 years later my sister's doc told her to gain no more than 25lb. She blew him off and gained almost 50 with her son and 35 with her daughter.

My mother's weight was always proportional to her height. She was a size 8 when she died at 85. My sister carries an extra 65 lbs and has been struggling with her extra weight ever since the birth of her chldren. Her weight makes arthritis in hips and knees more painful and caused other health problems, too. Her advice to her own daughter--pay attention to the warnings about extra weight in pregnancy. It is important for your life-long health and well-being.

[seabeyond]

21. i gained 45. first three months mostly, lol. was sick all the time and needed noodles

pasta to not throw up, every couple hours.

so what

lol

lost it all and then some more with both preg

i dont like to follow the rules, we are all individual and nothing is concrete. probably low in weight when i got preg too

on edit: reading more of your post. i was older preg. and knew my body well. and though it wasnt further in preg doctor started getting worried and mentionally weight gain, for reasons of losing, i wasnt bothered at all and ate when hungry. was the best of times.

i lost weight easily.

second preg doct wasnt concerned at all and said something about watching weight as i got old, he said, not worried about me at all.

not just body style, but life choices.

i would never recommended a woman experience what you did in your preg

[CTyankee]

23. i was very young and what did I know? I trusted my doc who was affiliated

with NYU Hospital (he taught there, too). So I thought I wasin the best of hands.

In those days, we didn't have much, of any, of a choice in the matter...the doctor ruled.

[hedgehog]

22. Just an anecdote, but the doctor I had during my first pregnancy was very strict about weight gain.

The doctors I had for my other five pregnancies never said a word. One of my kids has a weight problem, the rest do not. Care to guess which kid has the weight problem?